The Round Up and Look Into Week 2

WOW! ESPN was not wrong when they said this would be the best opening weekend of games. A bunch of teams impressed me and a few shocked me. I have to say, usually with a bunch of nationally televised games, you usually get a dud or two in there. This time around, there wasn’t a dud among the diamonds. My official record for picks for the weekend was 2-3. Not the best, but I will most certainly take it. This week however there are not many pickable games, so that sort of stinks. But let’s recap what we saw in Week 1.

I told you Alabama would roll, and the Tide rolled to a blowout victory over USC. It will be interesting to see how USC responds after this embarrassing loss. ‘Bama did not look good in the first half, but turned it on in the second half. Thats the tale of Nick Saban’s career, always having a team that could do a lot more in the first half. Then comes out in the second half and blows the victim out of the water.

Greg Ward Jr. and Nick Chubb will both be names to watch in the Heisman race. Both guys were big parts for their teams getting the job done in their neutral site wars. Chubb, may have overtaken Leonard Fournette as the best RB in the SEC with his performance against UNC. For Ward Jr., he led Houston over OU, and I got to say came to play. Get that team in the Big 12, they deserve it.

LSU and Wisconsin was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. Corey Clement and Bart Houston are names to watch folks, that’s the RB and QB combo for the Badgers. How in the world I overlooked this one, especially with it being from Lambeau is mind-blowing. Leonard Fournette was stuffed like a turkey, and could not get anything other than a 30 yard burst in the second half.

FSU and Texas both overcame insurmountable odds too. I picked FSU and was pumped to see that comeback. But whenever ND loses, I get a lot happier. Texas is back folks. Good for head coach Charlie Strong. If QB Shane Buechele continues to sling the rock around with Tyrone Swoopes in the wildcat, the Longhorns are a scary bunch to watch.

So let’s get to the 2 games I really like in Week 2.

First game will be live from Bristol Motor Speedway as the 17th ranked Tennessee Volunteers faces the visiting Virginia Tech Hokies. Both teams were very underwhelming in their openers because they had step-stool games. But now this is where you lay down the lumber. Especially for the Hokies and QB Jerod Evans, if you win in Knoxville you can be considered a massive threat. This game is a coin flip for me, it’s also a big game for Tennessee QB Josh Dobbs. Dobbs needs to be the X-factor for the Vols, I just don’t know if he has it in him.

The other game comes from Ann Arbor, Michigan. The 5th ranked Michigan Wolverines get the UCF Knights. Both teams are coming off blowout victories and will look to capitalize on that momentum. I really like Michigan based off home field advantage, UCF might really get overwhelmed by the Big House. UCF QB Justin Holman had 2 TD’s last week, but threw 14-28, those are Sam Bradford numbers. He is going to have to be a lot better this week if the Knights want a chance. I like Harbaugh and the Wolverines by at least 10.

My Picks

VA Tech over Tennessee: 24-14

Michigan over UCF: 38-10

I would give a quick little Heisman breakdown, but it’s only week 2. I will have one by week 4 at the earliest. That’s usually when the contenders come out to play.